22 October 2011

New UFO Reporting Website

I've been spending most of my free time for a while working on a new website for reporting and tracking UFO sightings.  While there are a couple of reputable organizations out there to report UFO sightings to, I found their websites lacking and, in some cases, not very open with their UFO investigation reports.  So, I took it upon myself to design and create a UFO reporting website that I would like, while taking advantage of some current web technologies.

So, what are some of the requirements for my ideal UFO website?
  • Integration with Google Maps.  Clustering is used to identify the areas on the map with the most activity, then you can zoom in for more detail.  You can also restrict the map to any date range.
  • Easy image uploading and viewing.  Images can be uploaded by the person reporting the UFO, they can be easily viewed while looking at the sighting report, and the full-size images can be downloaded.
  • Video integration.  Built-in video encoding and viewing, bypassing the need to rely on YouTube.  
  • Social tools for website members to vote sightings up or down and to comment and ask questions about specific sighting reports.  And, the ability for the original sighting reporter to respond to the questions and comments.
  • Built-in tools for investigations.  Investigation results are posted alongside the original report.  Other organizations investigate sightings, but their investigation reports are closed to the public.  What is the point? 
  • The ability for website members to watch or "follow" interesting UFO sightings.  Email messages notify them when a sighting has been updated with new information or comments.
  • And more...
That's where I am for the moment with the development of SightingsReport.com.  As you can imagine, there are more features to come.  I'm really excited about getting some more really cool features rolled out, and the potential to change the way UFO sightings are seen online.  

Check it out and let me know what you think.

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